


Deal with the Devil

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Hercules (1997)
Genre: Gen, Heartbreak, Pre-Canon, Yuletide, Yuletide 2008
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-24
Updated: 2008-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-11 10:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/111653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for: NutterZoi in the Yuletide 2008 Challenge</p><p>Much thanks to my beta, Fred!</p>
    </blockquote>





	Deal with the Devil

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NutterZoi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NutterZoi/gifts).



> Written for: NutterZoi in the Yuletide 2008 Challenge
> 
> Much thanks to my beta, Fred!

  
Meg ran down the street, desperately hoping that she would make it out of town and into the woods before she burst into tears. Over and over, the image of Orphedon, her betrothed, flashed through her mind. How could he have left her for that, that... _harlot!_ Artamine had no dowry, no connections, nothing to her name at all except a brazen reputation and at least one communicable disease.

Meg dodged around a farmer who was herding some reluctant goats into the town and finally made it off the road. She jumped over the low wall - a crumbling remenant of the wonderful city that had once stood there - and quickly dashed through Herder Dothon's meadow. Finally reaching the thick woods that surrounded Idos, Meg slowed her pace and allowed her tears to fall.

The small icy droplets ran down Meg's face, cooling her flushed skin. As her vision blurred with grief, Meg found a fallen log to lean against. Settled, she finally allowed all of her grief and pain to burst forth in huge shuddering sobs.

***

When Meg finally regained her senses, she saw that night had fallen. Meg vigorously rubbed her hands over her face, erasing every last trace of the tears that had coated it a short time ago. Having gotten all the pain out of her system, Meg was through crying.

Meg thrust the image of Orphedon's loving gaze out of her mind. As far as she was concerned, the bastard deserved Artamine. And her diseases. Meg was through with Orphedon - with all men. She would wall her heart in, encasing it in stone, so that no one would ever hurt her again.

Thus resolved, Meg slowly climbed to her feet, brushing dirt and debris off her dark green dress. She looked around, seeking a way out of the woods, as she had paid little attention to her surroundings on the way in. Instead, she found a man watching her. At least, he _looked_ like a man.

He had skin of the palest grey white, set off by rich black robes. Older and stockier than Orphedon, the man looked like the rich merchants who traveled to Idos from Corinth. The thing that made Meg quite sure that this man was no merchant was his hair.

It was blue. And on fire.

Meg was almost certain that she was in the presence of one of the gods, but she couldn't get her surprised body to bow in respect. Like her heart, her limbs were now frozen.

"It's Megara, isn't it?" The god said in a smooth, oily voice. He didn't seem to mind that Meg hadn't bowed. The god continued. "A little _birdie_ told me that I might find you here, my little Nut-Meg."

Meg balked at the name. No one but Orphedon had ever called her that. All thoughts of bowing fled her mind and Meg felt a cold fire building within her. "Don't ever call me that again, got it?" She spat.

"Oh no, no, no!" The god protested, "I wouldn't dream of it!" He held up his hands, as though to ward her off. "I just came here to see if you might be interested in a little trade."

Like all Idosian children, Meg had been taught very early on not to promise anything to a god without getting as much information as possible first. "What kind of a trade?" She asked.

"A trade!" The god exclaimed. "You know, I have something you want, you have something I want. We switch, we shake, we kiss, and everybody's happy!"

"What would you give me?" Meg asked, careful not to agree to anything with her words.

"Freedom. Freedom from the pain that you're feeling right now." The god smiled sympathetically. "I can make it so that you'd never have to see old what'shisface again. Never have to feel a pain like this again."

Meg raised her eyebrow suspiciously. So far, this exchange seemed to be doing a lot for her and nothing for the god. "And how exactly would you pull that off?" She asked. "By killing me?"

"Kil- _kill_? Why would I want to kill you?" The god protested exaggeratedly. "No, _you_, my dear, are so much more useful to me alive. I can even fix it so that you live forever, if you serve me well."

That offer sounded just too good to be true to Meg. "And what, exactly, do you want in return?"

"Oh, it's just a tiny, tin- insignificant little thing!" The god slashed his hands through the air, further negating the importance of what he was asking. "Just, you know, if I could possibly, like, own your soul for all eternity." He smiled winningly.

"What kind of a god are you?" Meg demanded.

He stuck out his hand. "The name's Hades, Lord of the Dead. Hi. How ya doing?"


End file.
